1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a blister package having a stop and align feature that stops the sliding movement of a slide card within an outer sleeve and simultaneously aligns the apertures of the slide card with the apertures of the outer sleeve so that articles retained by the blister pockets can be removed from the package.
2. Description of Related Art
It is common practice to use blister packages to package small solid articles or products which may be dispensed from the package by applying pressure to the blister to force the article or product from an individual blister or capsule through a rupturable membrane. Since this type of packaging is typically used for marketing medicines, the invention will be referred to herein with respect to a package particularly suitable for such use, but it should be understood that the package maybe used for other products as well. Recently, a substantial effort has been directed toward providing packaging that contains sufficient impediments to prevent children from easily opening the package and gaining access to the package articles or products while still providing adults with easy access to the articles or products contained therein.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,829 to Johnstone et al. (hereinafter “Johnstone”) discloses a unit dose package having an outer sleeve blank 2 and inner slide card blank 100. As shown in FIGS. 1-3 of the Johnstone patent, the outer sleeve blank 2 has extension panels 4 and 8. Extension panel 4 is folded over and adhesively attached to extension panel 8. Extension panel 8 is then folded over side panel 10. As shown in FIGS. 6-9, the inner slide card blank 100 has an extension panel 106 that is folded over side panel 102.
Once fully assembled, a user can pull the inner slide card 100 within the outer sleeve 50 formed by the outer sleeve blank 2 until the extension 106 of the inner slide card 100 is caught and retained by the folded extension panels 4 and 8 of the outer sleeve 50. Folded extension panels 4 and 8 of the outer sleeve 50 and extension panel 106 of the inner slide card 100, which form the locking means of the Johnstone unit dose package, prevent the inner slide card from being completely removed from the outer sleeve 50.
However, the locking means 4, 8, and 106 of the Johnstone unit dose package does not align the holes within the slide card 100 with the blisters of the blister package while simultaneously retaining the sliding card from being removed from the package. Put simply, the Johnstone unit dose package does not provide a stop feature that retains the inner slide card 100 within the outer sleeve 50 while simultaneously aligning the holes within the slide card 100 with the blisters of the blister package.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,793 to Tannenbaum discloses a device for inhibiting the removal of an article from a blister type container 14 positioned within a housing 32 in manner such that the container 14 may slide in a left to right direction when viewing FIG. 2a of the Tannenbaum patent. The container 14 slides between a dispensing position, as shown in FIG. 2b, in which articles 12 may be removed from the container 14, and a non-dispensing position as shown in FIG. 2a, which prevents removal of the articles 12 from the container 14.
The Tannenbaum container includes a base 34 of the housing 32 that has openings 36 which are in registry with the blisters 22 of the container 14. The housing 32 includes a first enclosure 38 having an abutment 42 that contacts a portion 44 of the outer surface 23 of the blister and a biasing means. As shown in FIG. 3, the biasing means has a first end 48 and folds 54 that form a spring member 52.
The biasing means is positioned within the first enclosure 38 of the housing 32. See FIGS. 2a and 2b of Tannenbaum. When the container 14 is slid within the housing 32 in a left to right direction when FIG. 2a, the folds 54 of the biasing means are compressed as shown in FIG. 2b, and the blisters 22 are aligned with the openings 36 in the base 34 of the housing 32 to facilitate removal of the articles. The sliding motion of the container 14 within the housing 32 is stopped when the abutment 42 of the first enclosure 38 engages the outer surface 23 of the blister 22. However, the Tannenbaum package does not disclose a slide card positioned between the container 14 and the openings 36 in the base 34 and having a stop feature that engages a stop feature on an inside surface of the housing 32 that aligns the holes in the container 14 with the openings 36 while simultaneously stopping the container 14 from sliding any further within the housing 32.